Indie hackers weigh in on Threads, Meta’s new Twitter competitor
It's been a couple days since Meta launched Threads, its Twitter competitor.
And by "competitor," I actually just mean "clone." The two apps are so similar that Musk immediately threatened to sue for misappropriation of intellectual property. Zuck himself all but acknowledged the accusation by coming out of an 11-year Twitter hiatus to post the meme equivalent of a middle finger:
Clone or not, 70 million users have already signed up. And that includes a lot of indie hackers.
More than 50 founders replied to an Indie Hackers post asking for their usernames on Threads. And because I deeply, deeply care about how I spend my time, I spent two hours clicking through every single link on that post to see what indie hackers think of Threads so far.
Two things stood out to me:
1. The home feed sucks
You can't access a following-only feed. So instead the home feed is filled with a bunch of celebrity gossip and influencer content.
Indie hackers don't love this.
2. Small accounts get good engagements
On the flipside, the majority of the accounts I looked at were getting at least some engagements on their posts. Even tiny accounts with ~5–20 followers. Which is a big difference from Twitter. On Twitter, small accounts have been known to tweet into the void for months before getting any likes or retweets.
This is probably because when you sign up for Threads, you do it by connecting it to your Instagram account, where you have access to plenty of your real-life friends.
Problem is, for most of the indie hackers I know, this is like mixing work with play:
I'm currently in Korćula, Croatia. One the of most beautiful places I've ever been.
The idea of living here sounds great until I think about not having my community of friends back home.
I'm currently feeling the same way on Threads.
It hasn't been long since I've been active on Twitter. But I've quickly found my community.
And while Threads seems cool, I don't like the feeling of having to start over finding my people.
Yep, network effects are real.
In the meantime you'll have to pretend that the Instagram influencers filling your home feed are your people. 🤷♂️
Which I really don’t want so I made my profile private and not accepting any friend from Instagram, now I trying to build my network carefully incase threads becomes replacement for twitter. I know some consequences of keeping my profile private but for now that’s my choice.
@channingallen, can we add threads button on profile beside twitter & email
Button? Otherwise we have to ask everyone their threads profile handle and we will see more post like this on IH 😄
Don't miss Slovenia while in Korčula! It's a neighboring country with stunning nature, charming cities, and a warm welcome. Visit Lake Bled, explore Ljubljana, Maribor etc. and enjoy the breathtaking Julian Alps. It's a short trip from Korčula that adds a whole new dimension to your adventure.
Thanks! Yea, we love Slovenia - went to Ljubljiana, Bled, Bohinj...
Have you been to Triglav? Although it's a popular destination, I would suggest exploring something different like Savinjska Dolina Žalec, known for its Fountain of Beer. Interestingly, many people were initially against its construction, but now it has become one of the top destinations. (Classic Slovenians always against)
During my last visit, I saw three buses filled with happy German tourists enjoying the local Slovenian beer. For around 10€, you can test multiple varieties of local beer, making it a fun and enjoyable experience.
Cycling in Savinjska Dolina is also highly recommended, as the area offers beautiful scenery and there are several museums to explore as well. Another great option is the Soča Valley.
There are countless stunning places I could recommend visiting. I personally prefer to avoid the overly expensive and overly touristy destinations
Welcome to Slovenia 👈
Welcome to Croatia! :)
Hah, thanks!
Lizard boy is a copy-paste master
I closed my Facebook account because I'm not interested in using Social Media beyond the necessary, and I find the "conversations" on Facebook/Instagram distracting.
Threads feels like Facebook in that regard, but I'm not closing my mind.
That said, I'm staying at Twitter until they have a web or macOS client.
I haven't tried it, but everyone I talk to says it feels like a stripped-down version of Twitter and that it feels rushed.
That said, I'm sure it will get better, but how much better, really?
Also, the 70 million users seems a bit like a loaded stat that's great for optics. A lot have to be opt ins from IG.
And lastly, instead of chasing the shiny new thing as marketers, why not triple down on the platforms we're good at?
At some point, the opportunity cost of spending time learning a new algorithm and platform for the sake of getting eyeballs has to be negative EV.
Anyways, my two cents.
Yeah, I can see this. It's all hype right now, so I'm going to stick around to see how things go. Got to give it some time, but I don't see Twitter dying anytime soon. It still has its place. I've already noticed myself going back there.
You picked some really great comments to feature. Thank you! 😃😃😃
I'm hoping the bad feed problem is because the recommendation algorithm doesn't have any data yet. If that's the root cause, then it should hopefully fix quickly as people use it more. Has it gotten better for anyone else? I didn't have patience to give it more data.
If anything, it's gotten worse for me…
Are you guys liking threads over twitter?
Good analysis, and it seems like lots of people are feeling the same way about it. My 2 cents are that Threads is meant to pick up users that left Twitter. But it will also be a platform limiting free speech, while driving certain narratives. Basically what Twitter used to be before spaceman bought it.
Threads could potentially offer a refreshing alternative. It will be interesting to see how it differentiates itself and attracts users, considering the established dominance of Twitter in the microblogging space. As an indie hacker, I'm cautiously optimistic and eager to explore the potential of Threads as a platform for connecting with like-minded individuals and expanding my reach."
For lacking most of Twitter's features, my experience on Threads is more satisfying than nu-Twitter. I am able to meaningfully engage with mainstream accounts, and it seems like the sh*tposters aren't tolerated--which elevates the discourse.
I am not a Meta fan by any means, but the vibe on Threads is the closest to early Twitter than anything of the other platforms, today.
Looks like G+ all over again … only worse. Remember G+ also forced G+ accounts from existing Google accounts and had quickly achieved a large following (for that day).
And unlike Threads, G+ at least launched out the gate with some clear improvements over FB (e.g. photo quality and communities/groups) but it just started too late and was too similar to FB. And FB was able to quickly replicate whatever improvements G+ had over them, leaving G+ in the dust.
Threads seems to be Twitter, only with the additional censorship and advertisements that we know Meta will throw at us. Unless you are 100% hardcore anti-Musk, why would you go to Threads?
probably a good idea to get on both threads and twitter
haven't gotten threads yet tho
lol, Elon fires everyone then cries when he gets a bit of healthy competition.
Its better idea
I wish Meta will segment the threads into interest, showing irrelevant threads that am not interested in, even from other languages that I can translate - is not the best way to enjoy social media.
Just like those dating apps, I'm given the option to select my interest and feeds are showing up based on that.
I wish Meta can integrate this, maybe the platform will be better.
Still waiting for IBJJF to announce the Zuck/Musk fight... (or UFC?)
As improbable as an MMA match is, a BJJ match is surely impossible. No way Musk would surrender his only conceivable path to victory: landing a lucky haymaker.
You're right... but why did he (Musk) meet with John Danaher few days ago 🤔 It couldn't be a coincidence, he's trying to learn something 😁
The Internet is buzzing with videos of Zuck rolling with Lex Fridman and winning BJJ competitions, etc. Musk is just trying to signal that he'll have his basic fundamentals covered by the time the cage closes.
But make no mistake, he would treat a grounded Mark Zuckerberg like hot lava.
It's barely a few days old/open, has network effects in full swing, is the first real competitor to Twitter without the baggage, and will definitely get a lot better.